giving way

a traffic jam on a sunny evening (large dog behind pony is Sox, not visible is shetland pony on leading rein, and Jess, spaniel of Goosewell, below, who was all dressed up in hot pursuit of Harriet, who also is feeling quite hot)

pennywort

wall pennywort (also called navelwort, aka umbilicus rupestris) growing on hedge boundary wall with some foxgloves, Duchy College in the background, and the first tortoiseshells of this year's new batch.

heath fritillary

at long last, a photo of a butterfly (a very tattered heath fritillary) on a butterfly orchid, it is a meadow icon. I am not sure why butterfly orchids are so named but I have never seen a butterfly on one before. There are a lot in the meadows this year. The butterflies were very docile after 48 hours of wind and rain which allowed some unusually close close ups. I have always liked the effect created by sunlight shining through the wings.

Red robert

Herb robert on the edge of the bridge at Beals Mill. It shows the rich red for which the plant was named (see previous page on blog). The lichens are probably as ancient as the bridge which looks medieval.

across the fields of ragged robin

it continues to rain, and the Inny meadows are wet and dreary although there was some bedraggled ragged robin.

tamar valley news

I only show again this unusual picture of our beloved river Tamar looking unusually blue to provide an opportunity to advertise a BBC programme on the valley which manages to capture some of the essence of the beautiful place we live in (minus the mispronunciation of the place names) and which lies at the heart of this blog. The village of Gunnislake mentioned in the programme lies across the ridge at the top, and Cotehele is the building below the woods to the left of the picture. I am not sure if visitors from outside UK will be able to access the film but if you can it is well worth watching.

link to BBC programme